Aryna Sabalenka explains why she enjoys facing Elena Rybakina in WTA finals

Aryna Sabalenka picked up a bit of revenge for her Australian Open defeat, beating Elena Rybakina in the Indian Wells final on Sunday.

Sabalenka, currently ranked number one in the world, came back from a set down and saved a championship point to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in California.

This win felt particularly important for Sabalenka, as she had lost her previous four WTA finals against Rybakina.

Despite those earlier results, the 27-year-old said after the match that she enjoys facing Rybakina in finals.

Sabalenka relishes the challenge of facing Rybakina in WTA finals

“I’m super happy that I can close this trip with a trophy,” Sabalenka told the WTA Tour, as reported by TennisONE.

“It’s definitely gonna stay in my memory forever and probably one of, I don’t know, one of the coolest couple of weeks that I had in my life”.

“I’m super happy with the win, especially after Australian Open”.

“I really love playing finals against her because it always means that it’s going to be a fight, it’s going to be a battle, and it’s going to be tough for each of us. We have to really pull out the great tennis to get the win”.

“That’s the beauty of our rivalry and I’m really enjoying it and even though I lost so many really painful finals against her, but still I managed to win so many, and yeah, I’m happy to have this kind of rivalry.”

Aryna Sabalenka is chasing a historic feat at the Miami Open 2026

The Miami Open was added as a WTA 1000 event back in 2009. Victoria Azarenka is currently the only player ever to defend her title there. She won back-to-back titles from 2011 to 2012.

If Aryna Sabalenka can complete this achievement in March, then she will add yet another incredible accomplishment to what has been an outstanding career so far.

Elena Rybakina gives honest assessment of Indian Wells defeat

Speaking to the WTA Tour, as reported by TennisONE, Elena Rybakina described the loss as ‘bitter’ and reflected on what made the match difficult for her.

“It’s a bitter loss of course. I had opportunities, and in the second set it was really difficult for me to bring this extra energy.

“First set I played really well which I’m happy with”.

“It’s been a great couple of weeks, nothing easy… but I think the most important is to take positives and move on for the next tournament.”

Rybakina reached a career milestone by climbing to world number two after her performance at Indian Wells.

The Kazakhstani player could strengthen her ranking further in Miami: she lost her opening match in the second round last year, meaning she could earn up to 965 ranking points at this year’s event.

Read more: